A Welcome Grace with Beth Williby

This conversation left Beth wondering, "Where was this episode when I was a younger woman and had no clue about money?!"  Listeners, this episode is full of lightbulb moment after lightbulb moment.  So, whether you consider yourself to be savvy with personal finance or not, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Topics covered today include:

• The intersection of faith and finance
• Beth & Amanda share the events that made them flip the script on how they interacted with money
• The three biggest issues Amanda sees women in particular having with personal finance
• How and when we should start teaching our kids about money
• Why learning about finances and being confident in them actually matters
• What is Wallet Win and how the system is helpful

Who is Amanda Teixeira?
Amanda hails from Omaha, Nebraska. She is a wife, mother, and co-founder of WalletWin, a personal finance education company. Amanda is a nationally sought-after speaker and writer on the topics of finances, leadership, and femininity. Before launching WalletWin, she served nine years as a staff member with FOCUS, a Catholic campus ministry organization. When she isn’t running her business, Amanda can be found having spontaneous dance parties or exploring the outdoors with her husband Jonathan, daughters Josephine, Charlotte, and Eleanor and their beloved Labrador Retriever, Wrigley.  One of Amanda’s goals is to help us understand that money doesn't have to be scary, boring, or something for someone else to handle - YOU can (and must) handle it well for God's glory.

Quick Links from the Episode:
WalletWin on Instagram
WalletWin Podcast
WalletWin's free training program

For more information on this and all episodes, please visit http://awelcomegrace.com or email Beth at (awelcomegrace @ gmail dot com).

In today's episode, Beth sits down with real-life friend and all-around great gal, Patty Breen, to discuss something Beth knows nothing about but Patty certainly does.  Namely, what is it like to be a single woman in your 30s in the 21st century?

But why?  Why do  we “smug marrieds” (as Bridget Jones would call us in her diary) -- and let’s be honest, married people are pretty much my listener demographic, but if you are one of the single listeners, you’ll get some serious value from this conversation, too -- Anyway, why is it that the collective “WE” need to have the script flipped on singlehood?  Well, it’s for the sake of compassion…empathy…and taking a look at a situation outside of our own sphere and understanding it better.

Topics covered today include:

• What do single people feel married people need to see differently?
• Patty's experience with marriage, divorce, annulment,  and starting to date again in her 30s
• What "healthy dating" looks like
• What is an annulment and what isn't it?
• Online dating in the 21st century
• God's ability to take our plans and disappointments and turn them into something beautiful

Who is Patty?
Patty Breen is a Pastoral Associate at her local parish in Michigan, a position she describes as being the Robin to the priest’s Batman.  She has been working in lay ministry for over twelve years and writes at various places online. A true Midwestern girl, Patty finds joy in running, strong cups of coffee, Ignatian spirituality, writing, and a good old-fashioned Hollywood musical. She is passionate about messy conversations at the intersection of faith, culture, and ministry.

Quick Links from the Episode:
Follow Patty on Instagram
Patty's blog -- A Modern Grace
Mary Catherine Craig's life-coaching website -- Created to Live
AWG Episode 7 with Jean Heaton on Ignatian Spirituality

For more information on this and all episodes, please visit http://awelcomegrace.com or eamil Beth at (awelcomegrace @ gmail dot com).

There are conversations that we have in our lives that affect us deeply.  They rock our world just enough to leave us thinking and processing long after the talking has stopped.  Well, today's episode was exactly that kind of conversation for Beth.

In today's episode, Beth and Leticia O. Adams sit down together and discuss such timely (yet seemingly eternal) topics as poverty (including generational poverty), privilege, and racism.

There's no way around it, this is a challenging episode.   It's one that will ask you to reconsider certain prejudices, hear another woman's story with an open heart, and will prompt you to learn and grow.  At the same time, though, it'll make you laugh and provide some concrete steps for moving forward into a new frame of mind.

Content warning: We discuss the death by suicide of Leticia's oldest son.

Who is Leticia Ochoa Adams?
Leticia is a wife, mother and grandmother who lives in Texas. As a freelance writer, she has contributed to The Catholic Hipster Handbook from Ave Maria Press and Patrick Madrid's Surprised by Truth from Sophia Press. Her work has appeared in numerous Catholic print and online publications including Our Sunday Visitor and Aleteia.  Leticia was a regular featured guest on the Jen Fulwiler Show on Sirius XM, and a sought-after panelist at Catholic conferences, having most recently participated at FemCatholic and the Fall Conference at the deNicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame.

Quick Links from the Episode:
Leticia's website: https://leticiaoadams.com/
Leticia on Facebook
Leticia on Instagram
Tamika D. Mallory (Instagram)
Amanda Seales (Instagram)
The Upside Down Podcast

For more information on this and all episodes, please visit http://awelcomegrace.com or eamil Beth at (awelcomegrace @ gmail dot com).

Whether or not you consider yourself a creative person, there is something in this episode for you.  Even if it's merely just listening in while Beth and Laura laugh like crazy people about anything and everything.

Seriously, though.  This episode is full of gems from one of the most inspirational and encouraging writers in the Catholic world today.

Laura Kelly Fanucci joins Beth today to discuss:

• creativity
• what it is and what it isn't
• how we can identify our unique creativity even if we don't consider ourselves creative
• the intersection of motherhood and creativity
• how to tap into our creative selves in the midst of life's chaos
• and so much more!

Who is Laura Kelly Fanucci?
Laura is a writer, speaker, and author. She’s an award-winning columnist for Catholic News Service, and her nationally syndicated “Faith at Home” column runs monthly in Catholic newspapers across the U.S. Her writing has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, On Being, and the Christian Century, and in popular outlets including O (the Oprah Magazine), People Magazine and the Kelly Clarkson Show. Laura has authored seven books, including Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting and Grieving Together: A Couple's Journey through Miscarriage. She and her husband live in Minnesota with their 5 sons.

Quick Links from the Episode:
Laura's website, Mothering Spirit
Follow Laura on Instagram
Follow Laura at Mothering Spirit on Facebook
Read Laura's viral poem "When This is Over"

For more information on this and all episodes, please visit http://awelcomegrace.com or email Beth at (awelcomegrace @ gmail dot com).

Do you have children under the age of 18 in your home?  Do you also have parents over the age of 65?  If you answered yes to both questions, you are part of the ever-growing Sandwich Generation.  Welcome to the club.

In this episode of the podcast, Beth and her guest Dr. MaryRuth Hackett break down the whole concept of the Sandwich Generation and flip the script on what it can and does mean in our lives.

Topics covered in today's episode include:

• the difference between our chronological generation and our experiential generation (GenX versus Sandwich Generation)
• how our relationships with our children can relate to those with our parents, but also how different they are by necessity
• steps we can take to diffuse the stressful conversations we have with our aging parents

Who is Dr. MaryRuth Hackett?
Dr. Hackett is a podcaster, blogger, aspiring writer, wife, and mother of four kids ages 9-17 living in Arizona.  She holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and has a passion for helping others understand human development.  Her podcast, Parenting Smarts, is a production of the Diocese of Phoenix.  Both her podcast and her writings weave together practical family life, research on child development, and Catholic teaching with the goal of helping moms and dads embrace their vocations at home and excel at parenting.

Quick Links for this Episode:
Pew Research Center study on the Sandwich Generation
Follow MaryRuth on Instagram
Listen to Parenting Smarts podcast
Read MaryRuth's blog, Parenting with Peer Review

For more information on this and all episodes, please visit http://awelcomegrace.com or email Beth at (awelcomegrace @ gmail dot com).

Are you asking yourself, "What in the world is the feminine genius?"  Then, to paraphrase today's guest, "Sister, this episode is for you!"

In this week's episode, we go full-on Catholic as Beth and her guest, Chloe Langr, deep dive Pope St. John Paul II's teaching on the feminine genius.  Topics in today's discussion include:

• What is the feminine genius, anyway?
• How does it impact our lives?
• Is this just a Catholic thing or does it apply to non-Catholic women, too? (Spoiler alert: it does.)
• How does the feminine genius support our individuality and that there's not just one way to be a Catholic woman?
• Can dialing in on the feminine genius help us cope when God flips the script on what we think life should be?

Who is Chloe Langr?
Chloe is a Catholic wife, mom, and author living in the heart of the Midwest. She hosts “Letters to Women,” a podcast that explores what it means to live out the feminine genius in the everyday. A Catholic Book Award winner, Chloe is the author of several books, including Created for Love: Reflections for the Catholic Bride-to-Be and the brand-new Letters to Women: Embracing the Feminine Genius in Everyday Life. When she isn’t behind the podcast microphone, you can find her drinking espresso with her husband, Joseph, and reading board books with her two young daughters.

Quick Links from the Episode:
Check out Chloe's podcast here.
Follow Letters to Women on Instagram.
Order Chloe's new book Letters to Women (on Amazon) or (from Tan Books)
Read Pope St. John Paul II original Letter to Women here

For more information on this and all episodes, please visit http://awelcomegrace.com or email Beth at (awelcomegrace @ gmail dot com).

Today, we’re going to be flipping the script on parenting adult children.  If you are in the same season of motherhood Beth is, you too think it’s really hard to grasp that sooner rather than later, your own kids are going to start graduating, finding jobs, getting married, and even becoming parents themselves!

This is an area of motherhood that Beth is both really beginning to look forward to while simultaneously being completely scared to death of.  Then again, that’s probably how we all feel about every new phase of motherhood, isn’t it?

So, to help us prepare to navigate this new phase, Beth has called in someone who can only be described as an expert.

Topics covered include:

• college
• job searches
• fostering our kids' vocations (both to marriage and the religious life)
• being a mother-in-law
• parenting without fear
• and more!

Who is Kathryn Scheibmeir?
Kathryn is a Victim Services Coordinator with her local District Attorney’s Office in Texas.  Prior to doing this work, though, she was a stay-at-home mom for over 20 years.  She and her husband Peter have 9 children, 8 boys and 1 girl, six of whom are in their 20s.  She says that she started her parenting journey looking forward to the perfect Norman Rockwell moments life could bring, but has found the bawdiness and messiness of reality to be much, much better.

Quick Links from the Episode:
Make sure to follow Kathryn on Instagram @9peas!
Not ready for adults, but still want to hear about teenagers?  Check out last season's episode with Kathryn Whitaker! 

For more information on this and all episodes, please visit http://awelcomegrace.com or email Beth at (awelcomegrace @ gmail dot com).

This week, Beth sits down with the hilarious and inspiring Erin H. Moon to flip the script on Lent.  Topics in today's discussion include:

• What exactly is Lent?
• Fasting vs. Feasting and how they work in tandem.
• Erin's conversion from Southern Baptist to Anglican changed her view of Lent.
• Comparing Anglican and Catholic observances of Lent
• God's permissive will  and God's perfect will

If you are a Lenten observer from way back, this episode is for you.
If you are someone who wants to understand Lent better, this episode is for you.
If you are a person who likes lofty topics of faith presented in a really accessible manner, this episode is for you.

Quick Links from the show:
Follow Erin on Instagram! (Do it! You won't be sorry.)
The Popcast
The Bible Binge
Grab a copy of Erin's Lent Devotional, Memento Mori, here!

For more information on this and all episodes, please visit http://awelcomegrace.com or email Beth at (awelcomegrace @ gmail dot com).

Oftentimes, a change in attitude or perspective makes all the difference.  Maybe you’ve noticed this, too?  How, sometimes, when we cannot change our circumstances, we need to change our way of thinking?

Essentially, we need to flip the script.

Over the course of this upcoming season, I’m going to share some of the ways this practice has worked for myself and in the lives of my guests.  We’re going to be flipping the script on things like faith, health and exercise, creativity, parenting adult children, finances and money, and so much more!  And I have to say that the guest list this season is going to be something else.  I can’t wait for you to meet (or become better acquainted with) all of these amazing ladies. 

For more information on this or any of our episodes, please visit http://awelcomegrace.com or email me at [email protected]

The other day, I asked my followers on Instagram what one word or short phrase they would use to describe 2020.  Some of them, I had to edit a bit so I can share with you here on the podcast because, well, language!  But I’m 100% positive you could fill in the blanks if you wanted to.  Regardless, here are a few of the words people used:

• Trying
• Home
• Hot mess
• Unbelievable
• Unexpected
• Unprecedented
• Ever changing
• Overwhelming
• Flexible
• Dumpster Fire
• Crapfest
• Cluster f*ck
• Rona-coaster (I thought that one was particularly clever)
• "Shoo-shoo" storm
• Slow
• Depressing
• And Carb-loaded

And, you know, I think I’d have to agree with all of the above.  But if there’s one thing I know for sure, is that mixed in and amongst at the craptastic-ness and carbohydrates, there have been some really, really good things that happened this year, too.  In fact, here are some other words & phrases people used:

• Domestic
• Refining
• Home
• Growth
• Painful but necessary
• A Blessing in Disguise
• Blessed

And THAT, my dears, is what today’s episode is all about.  Today, I’m talking with some of you listeners and sharing stories from others, and together we are going to deep dive into the Good Parts Version of 2020.  All of that wonderful stuff that happens when, well, as one person puts it, when life happens!  You will hear from Mindy and Jennifer who live here in the States, from Taylor and Katie who called in from Canada, and from Anouk, who listens to the podcast all the way over in Belgium.

It was an honor and a privilege to talk with each of them and I can’t wait for you to hear their stories.

Quick Links from the Episode:
Check out more from Katie at her delightful YouTube channel!
Sign up to help or donate to Mindy's pen-pal/mentorship program!
Follow Beth on Instagram
Follow A Welcome Grace on Facebook

For more information on this and all episodes, please visit http://awelcomegrace.com or email Beth at (awelcomegrace @ gmail dot com).